Interesting village tours in Xalapa are located just a few miles from the state capital and emphasize the cuisine. Coatepec and Xico are great places to go for this experience. Coatepec, which comes from the Náhuatl words coatl, for snake, and tepetl, for hill, is seven miles from Xalapa and considered one of the most traditional coffee regions of Veracruz.

The aroma of roasted coffee emanates from  spacious tiled houses with their verdant interior gardens, one of the features that earned it the title  Pueblo Mágico, part of the national "Magical Villages" program. Visitors can learn what's involved in a day's work for the country people employed on coffee farms, which produce the region’s most important souvenir.

Xico, 11 miles from Xalapa, is known for  delicious cuisine. It is easy to find local tour guides who can take you to other tourist attractions in the area like the Texolo waterfall, a popular local tourist site.

A quest for the local Xico mole, which has been made for more than 30 years, is another way to get to know the local people. When visiting the market, you’ll hear the local cooks calling out, "Get the best Xico mole here, don't accept imitations."